Guardian
by practicallyaprincess
Summary: On her 18th birthday, Quinn was assigned to be Rachel's protector. She controls the outcome of Rachel's life and must watch as it plays out on a movie screen. But Quinn doesn't always make the right choices, and now she must choose between her life and Rachel's... NOW A MULTICHAPTER STORY CALLED "The Keeper."


**A/N:** This is extremely AU and probably not that good because I sort of suck at science-fiction and fantasy stories, but I couldn't stop dreaming about this story and I finally decided to write it. It's just a one shot and there won't be any future parts.

* * *

The morning of December 18th was sleepy and chilly, with the hazy fog of a cold winter's day. The sun peeked from behind a gray cloud and made the fresh white blanket of snow shimmer; a quiet stillness interrupted only when a car sped down the road in the middle of black muddy sludge. Up in the clouds, it seemed like a scene pulled straight from the snow globes at the checkout counters of the Hallmark store; only missing a silver crank that played a tingly "winter wonderland" tune when it was twisted so far.

Her feet touched down on the floor first, and she felt her stomach sink when the clouds enveloped her up to her ankle. She still wasn't used to it, still wrapping her mind around the fact that clouds were solid. Every day for the past hundred days, she rolled over in her bed, opened her eyes, then stepped out one foot at a time, and she still wasn't used to it. There was still a part of her that felt as though she might fall through the pillowy white puffs; plummeting down into the depths of whatever she didn't know lay below.

_Clouds are solid, _she reminded herself. _Clouds are solid and you are safe._

She flexed her feet along the floor, taking in the sensation of misty air flowing through each of her toes. Arms over her head, she stretched then stood upright, ready to take on the duty of the day.

Her mind was like a checklist, it had been that way since she got the promotion. It was a never-ending list of things that needed to be done, goals that needed to be accomplished, quotas that needed to be met. _Get her to breakfast, get her to lunch, get her to dinner. Have her shower safely, help her pay attention in class, assist her in speaking to her professor. _Of course, small things popped up throughout the day and the minor obstacles were enough to make the job interesting, but not enough to make her want to stay. _Ignore the stranger at the end of the road, locate her pepper spray when she's walking from her night class, tell her not to eat the dining hall shrimp unless she wants to be best friends with the toilet later. _One thing after another, she ticked them off with check marks every single day and wondered if maybe she made a mistake.

"Good morning, Yellow," Blue tilted his head at her as she walked past the front desk and headed for her sector.

Yellow flinched as she walked through the wall and into her office. Wall-walking wasn't her favorite thing to do and sometimes it hurt, but it did come in handy when she forgot her keys, which she often did. Keys weren't a thing where she came from and having them was another part of the job she just couldn't get used to.

She didn't bother unlocking the door for Blue, who she knew would follow. Blue liked walking through walls, he found it amusing; and with a job like the one they had, there were very few things to find amusing throughout the day.

"Happy one hundredth day," Blue said as he conjured up a fluffy white chair to sit in. "How are you getting along? Any questions I can answer? Any complaints?"

"No," Yellow lied as she shook her head.

The truth was that if she started being honest with Blue and started complaining, she might never stop. She wished she could go back to Decision Day. She wished she could turn back the hands of time and go back to the morning of her eighteenth birthday, where she would decline the opportunity to become a "Keeper." Becoming a Keeper was all her parents ever talked about. Her dad was a Keeper after his eighteenth birthday too, and he never quite got over being stripped of his title.

He fell asleep on the job six months into his position, and his Assignment went "off grid." He was terminated as a Keeper faster than his assignment's head could spin, and he was then made a postperson — fielding calls for Assignments who need Keepers. He met her mother at the call center and though these days he claims that losing his position as a Keeper was the best thing that happened to him, Yellow knew deep down that he didn't mean that. She knew that her father would give anything to be a Keeper once again.

"You know, Yellow," Blue put his hand on her kneecap and caressed it in a way that made Yellow uncomfortable. "You're doing really great so far. I think you have potential to be an excellent Keeper. If you have any questions… I'm your mentor. I'm here to help."

"I said I'm alright." Yellow brushed his hand away from her leg and nodded at her screen to turn it on. She figured that jumping right into work was for the best and if she knew anything about her Assignment, it was that she'd be awake and starting her day in a few minutes.

For what it was worth, Blue was an excellent mentor. On Decision Day, when Yellow turned to the headmaster and accepted the invitation to become a Keeper, Blue was assigned to her and he had been showing her the way ever since. He took her old name and called her "Yellow", because he thought she was bright like the sun. He presented her with the Assignment she was chosen for, and showed her the ropes of how to do the job. He made sure Yellow was prepared for every possible scenario, even taught her how to handle an Assignment as headstrong, dramatic and theatrical as Yellow's Assignment was.

"Well, okay," Blue touched Yellow's shoulder and gave it a light pat. "If you need anything, just walk through my wall. I'm always open."

Blue stood up and lingered for a few moments, trying to figure Yellow out just by looking at her. Yellow gave him nothing to feed off of, though. She kept her head geared straight to her screen and watched intently as her Assignment was still sleeping.

"Oh, and Yellow?" Blue stood beside the door and rested his head against the wall. "Good luck on the birthday mission. Birthday missions are the hardest ones to master but I think you can do it."

"Thanks." Yellow muttered and waited until she could sense that Blue was gone before she pulled open her file cabinet.

_Birthday mission?! _She panicked. _A birthday mission already?_

Her mental checklist began forming itself. _Come up with various ways to say "thank you." Avoid catching her hair on fire when she blows out her candles. Have her pick out a nice outfit that'll get her noticed. Grit your teeth and help her get through one measly round of birthday sex with that mediocre boyfriend of hers._

Sometimes she dreamt about being human. It was the moments when her Assignment was alone that she thought about what it might be like to be there with her. If she were human, her Assignment would never cry over her boyfriend. Yellow would make sure her Assignment was too busy laughing to be worried about her boyfriend. Then the days where her Assignment missed home, she'd sit on the couch with her and rub her beautiful hair while they watched movies and talked about their feelings. She dreamt about being human, being there for her Assignment physically and not just spiritually.

Her Assignment was special. Every Keeper thought their Assignment was special, sure. But Yellow knew that hers was.

She wasn't ready for a birthday mission. Maybe if she would have read up on her Assignment's file, she'd have realized that December 18th was her assignment's birthday. Maybe if she could just talk to her dad, he'd be able to give her advice on how to master a birthday mission…

She pulled her Assignment's file from the cabinet and laid it on her desk. She made her assignment wake up every day at 6:30 Human Morning Time so she could get up and ready for the day because when you have an Assignment as big of a perfectionist as Yellow's, at least two hours of preparation time are needed. It was 6:15 Human Morning Time already, so Yellow knew she didn't have much time, but she was going to finally read her Assignment's file.

But before she settled in, she opened up the bottom drawer of her desk. And even though it was against the rules to openly miss and think about the life you left behind once you become a Keeper, she lifted the picture from her bottom drawer anyway.

She kept her old nametag, the one she had before she looked at the headmaster and told her that her mentor had officially named her "Yellow." The adhesive on the back still had remnants of the white sweater she wore on Decision Day, and she could still hear the way it sounded when the headmaster tore it off her chest.

Her fingers stroked the red writing on the white paper. Her eyes felt heavy with tears as she gazed across the writing: **Hello, my name is Quinn.**

A soft tear rolled down her cheek and dripped onto the clouds beneath her foot. She wanted to read her Assignment's file, she really did. She wanted to know more, past the basics of her name, her birthday and her college major. She had every intention on finally familiarizing herself and trying to become as attached to her Assignment as all the other Keepers were.

But she missed her family a little too much and missed the way it sounded to be called "Quinn" instead of "Yellow."

So she sighed, and she leaned against her desk to settle in for a long day of work. She gave her attention to her screen, where she nodded her head just one time and watched it like a movie as she made her Assignment wake up…

* * *

The morning of December 18th was sleepy and chilly, with the hazy fog of a cold winter's day. The sun peeked from behind a gray cloud and made the fresh white blanket of snow shimmer; a quiet stillness interrupted only when a car sped down the road in the middle of black muddy sludge. Up in the clouds, it seemed like a scene pulled straight from the snow globes at the checkout counters of the Hallmark store; only missing a silver crank that played a tingly "winter wonderland" tune when it was twisted so far.

Rachel braced her phone against her ear with her shoulder and walked with crunchy footsteps as her boots made way through the snow. Her chocolate brown hair flowed in the wind behind her as she strode quickly down the sidewalk in a slight hurry. Her first class was in a building two blocks away and though she usually made it on time with no problems, she spent a little too much time getting ready this morning.

"I'll meet you at the train station at 6:30," she spoke into the phone and looked up at the traffic signs to make sure it was safe to walk. "Well, just let me know. I checked on the Amtrak app and it said you should be here by 6:30. It's not that long of a ride from Lima to New York."

Rachel crossed the street and ignored the way her stomach roared when she inhaled the scent of fresh danishes baking from her favorite cafe at the corner of 2nd and 3rd Avenue.

"I know, but it's my birthday. It's the one day of the year when I get to do anything I want and I want to see you."

Maybe if she hadn't gone through four different outfits before settling on one, she wouldn't have been running late. Maybe if she wouldn't have been running late, she'd have stopped to grab herself a danish and coffee from the cafe. Maybe if she'd have stopped to grab herself a danish and coffee, she'd have noticed that she dropped her wallet three steps ago…

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, I'm just saying that I paid for your train ticket so you could come see me on my birthday, not some other time. I know you're busy helping Mr. Schue but my god, Finn. It's one day."

She continued walking up the street to make it to her class on time while her wallet continued to melt into the snow.

* * *

Yellow pursed her lips together to hold in laughter as she kept her eye on Rachel's wallet. She thought it was nothing short of hilarious the way Rachel kept walking and she didn't have a clue. Her entire life was in that wallet. Her driver's license, social security card, birth certificate, medical card, debit card, credit card, NYADA student ID, three twenty dollar bills and six loose one dollar bills… it was all in there and it was all on the ground, buried in the snow.

Yellow didn't know if her Assignment was careless by nature. She didn't know if Rachel was the type to always misplace her wallet or her keys. She didn't know if she was neurotic enough to go through four outfits or just one. She didn't know if she was clumsy enough to fall up the steps in front of everyone or unaware enough to have her heel get stuck in a drainage ditch. She didn't even know if Rachel could afford it when she made her shatter three times in three months, and didn't know if she was the type to be embarrassed every time she made her sneeze or start her period in the middle of having sex with her boyfriend. Perhaps those are all things Yellow would know if she had read her Assignment's file. Maybe she should have taken the time to know more than that her name was Rachel Berry, she was eighteen-years-old today, and she was a theatre major.

Yellow made her own fun. Maybe it was a little cruel the way she made Rachel burp in the middle of a performance last week and yeah, it wasn't that funny when she made Rachel fall off the elevated stage. It wasn't her job to keep Rachel safe and un-humiliated. It was only her job to assure she didn't have any free will.

On her screen, Yellow watched as Rachel rounded the last corner to get to her class's building. She glanced at the time at the bottom of her screen and noticed that at this pace, Rachel wasn't going to be late. So she looked over her shoulder to make sure Blue wasn't around and watching, then she flicked her finger at the screen.

"Okay, fine. I'll talk to you later. Love you, too. Bye." Rachel dropped her phone into her purse and grabbed onto the door handle, yanking harder and harder until she realized that it wasn't going to open. She suddenly noticed the "use back entrance" sign that Yellow made appear on the door.

Yellow didn't know much about being a Keeper and she was still in the early stages of mastering it, but she did know that she didn't want to be a Keeper anymore. She wasn't attached to her Assignment, she wasn't loving the job like everyone else. She missed home. She missed her family. She missed being named "Quinn."

She figured that completely failing a birthday mission would be the quickest way to be stripped of her title of as a Keeper and get sent back home to live out the rest of her days in the call center like her parents. Sure, she was fortunate enough to be offered the position as Keeper. Most people her age could only dream of doing that. And sure, she worked her ass off in school to even get the offer. She was grateful for the opportunity but so, so tired of it.

Something was missing from her. She wasn't connecting with her Assignment the way she should have been.

Or maybe… maybe she was connecting with her a little too much…

* * *

Rachel wondered why they had to use the back entrance today. She figured that it had something to do with construction, but she wasn't entirely sure because she never had to use the back entrance in the entire semester she'd been at NYADA.

Tucked into herself, she kept her head down as she walked through the alley.

Part of her knew that Finn wasn't going to come and that alone made her want to cry. She figured that if she was going to cry, there would be no better place to cry than in an alley alone. She just didn't understand. She bought him the train ticket so he could come today. It was her birthday and all she really wanted to do was spend it with him. Sure, she'd be okay spending it with Kurt. All they did was sit around and eat Ramen noodles and watch old 50s movies anyway, and that was her idea of fun. But still, she wanted to see Finn just for one day.

As she felt the tears stinging the corners of her eyes, she almost let herself cry but then she realized that she wasn't alone.

For a moment, she didn't want to look at him. She thought it would hurt her heart a little too much to look up and come face to face with someone sitting on the ground in the middle of snowy alley. He had thin clothes on, shoes worn down to the soles of his feet. It wasn't the first time she'd seen a homeless person during her time in New York, and she knew that it wouldn't be her last.

But something about this time made her feel different.

She never once thought twice about handing him the money. Not even when he looked at her with that look in his eye...

* * *

It was when she watched Rachel search for her wallet that she realized the signs had been right in front of her all along.

She watched as Rachel looked through her purse and her backpack in search of her wallet, nearly crying when she accepted the fact that she lost it. She thought Rachel was just going to give up, throw the towel in and explain to the homeless man that she didn't have any money to spare him. She thought that Rachel was just going to walk away.

But instead…

She watched her Assignment go through every pocket on her being, searching for the five dollar bill she knew she had somewhere. She searched her pants pockets, then her jacket pockets. She even searched the breast pocket on her shirt. It wasn't until she delved into the bottom of her boot that she found it.

Yellow knew that by giving up that money, Rachel wouldn't have been able to eat lunch on campus. She had no wallet, no student ID. She had five measly dollars to feed herself lunch in the tiny 45 minute break she had between classes… and she gave it up. She handed it to the homeless man, smiled at him, and went on her way.

And Yellow felt something for the first time.

It was like someone lit a candle inside of her and Yellow worked hard to blow the flame out because it was against the rules. She knew that Keepers were strictly forbidden from feeling romantically about their Assignments, so she swallowed it. She kept it buried so deep and kept it so hidden that she convinced herself those feelings just didn't exist.

It was jealousy that made her embarrass Rachel in intimate moments with her boyfriend. It was pure selfishness that made all the unfortunate things in Rachel's life happen. Because Yellow knew that the only way to keep a handle on her feelings was if, and only if, she convinced herself she felt nothing for her Assignment…

* * *

The morning of December 18th was sleepy and chilly, with the hazy fog of a cold winter's day. The sun peeked from behind a gray cloud and made the fresh white blanket of snow shimmer; a quiet stillness interrupted only when a car sped down the road in the middle of black muddy sludge. Up in the clouds, it seemed like a scene pulled straight from the snow globes at the checkout counters of the Hallmark store; only missing a silver crank that played a tingly "winter wonderland" tune when it was twisted so far.

Yellow trembled as she walked up the hallway and rounded the corner to get to Blue's office. She didn't flinch when she walked through the wall. In fact, she didn't even feel it.

"B-Blue?" Her entire body shook.

Blue turned away from his own screen, mouthful of breakfast cereal. He seemed happy to see Yellow at first, then realization made his face crumble. She stood in front of him cowering, a nervous shell of a young woman, one with tears and sorrow encompassing her entire body.

"I need your help…" Yellow choked on her own tears.

She couldn't get the image out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. She failed as a Keeper, that much she knew. What she needed to know was if there was anything Blue could do.

_She was trying to help him,_ she thought. _She was trying to help him and now look at her._

"What's the matter, Yell?" Blue sprung up and put his hands on her shoulders. "What happened?"

"I don't know…" she shrugged. "I wasn't trying to… but she just…"

"Yell…? Yell, tell me your Assignment is okay. Tell me she's alright."

"I killed her!"

"You what?!"

"I made her drop her wallet! She dropped her wallet and then she was late and I made her late and ran into that man and she —"

"What man?" Blue squeezed Yellow's shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

"How was I supposed to know he was gonna kill her?!"

"Who killed her?!"

"It happened so fast! One minute she was handing him money, the next minute he just… he had a knife! He just had a knife and it happened so fast and I didn't know what to do! Her birthday's today! Blue, there's gotta be something you can do!"

"What do you want me to do, Yell?! You know what happens to Keepers who let their assignments die… if the headmaster finds out you didn't do anything to stop this?! That you did everything in your power to actually _help _this happen…?" Blue paced around the room. "We're both fired. Both of us."

"Please, Blue! There's gotta be something you can do… please," Yellow ran her fingers through her hair. "Please. She can't be dead, Blue. She can't be dead. I… I think I love her. I think I love her and I never meant for this to happen. Please."

Blue pinched the bridge of his nose as he paced.

"I can't think with you begging like that. Let me think."

He sat down at his desk and looked up at the ceiling, getting lost in the clouds. "Okay, okay. Here's what we're gonna do," he sighed. "It's not going to end well for you, though… How much do you love her?"

"A lot," Yellow mumbled.

"The headmaster's gonna want a life," Blue started to explain. "If I bring her back, the headmaster's going to want a life. She has to even it out. One of you has to die. Yell?"

"What?"

"You love her enough to die for her?"

* * *

"I know it's here somewhere," Rachel turned her pockets inside out in search of the five dollar bill she grabbed before she left her and Kurt's apartment earlier. "I'm sorry, just give me a minute."

She put her bags on the ground, completely disregarding the snow. She busied herself with taking off her boot, and made herself so busy that she didn't notice the way he was looking at her.

She didn't notice that the tatters and rips in his shirt were conveniently placed like a costume worn to a Halloween party by a crazy college kid. She didn't notice that only his face was dirty and the rest of him was clean, shaven and proper. She didn't notice the menacing smile spread across his lips and ultimately, she didn't notice the way his hand slowly moved to his waistband and his fingers curled around the smooth handle of the pocketknife.

She was perfect bait. Beautiful and alone. Small in stature, little to no muscle. She wouldn't put up a fight, and if she did, she wouldn't be anything that he couldn't handle.

"I think I put it in my boot," Rachel said as she hopped on one foot, trying to avoid stepping on the wet ground in her sock. "Lemme try the other one, just hold on." She stuffed her foot back inside the boot and started to go for the other one.

The man started making swift movements, closing in like a shark circling its prey. Rachel's head was down, focused on slipping out of her boot and she didn't see the steps he took toward her. Her head was down until —

"RACHEL!" A voice yelled her name from the other end of the alley, catching both her attention and the man's.

He took a few steps away from Rachel and eyed the girl walking up the alley. Rachel had never seen her before, but clearly she knew who she was.

"Yeah?" Rachel called back.

"The main door is open again!" The girl waved her hands for Rachel to join her. "Come on, we're gonna be late! You know Mr. Sticks takes off ten percent for every minute you're late, so we need to hurry!"

Rachel wrinkled her eyebrows at the girl, but nodded her head. She turned back to the man who backed away from her a few feet and said, "I'm so sorry, but I'm going to be late for class."

The man nodded slowly, knowing that his chance was officially over. He just watched as Rachel turned around in the opposite direction she came in and joined her supposed friend.

"Thanks…?" Rachel said as she caught up to the girl who called her. She was certain that she never seen her before. She would have remembered her eyes — hazel and teetering on the brink of pure green. She would have remembered the soft blonde wand curls that flowed down her back, and she would have admired the way she dressed so chic in her white sweater and brown skirt. She was the most beautiful woman she never saw. "I saw that note on the door and I was so confused. Thanks for saving me…? Um…?"

"I'm in your set designing class," the girl turned and held her hand out. "I'm Quinn."

"I feel like I know you…" Rachel pondered. "...Have we talked before? I mean I don't think so but I feel like we've talked before."

"I see you around. And I heard your performance last week down at the Vibrant Cafe. You were awesome." Quinn held the door open for Rachel. "Maybe we can get like, coffee or something later?"

"Will you be around later? Around 6:30? I'm supposed to meet someone but I don't think he's coming."

"Boyfriend?"

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," Quinn shrugged. "I'll be around later. I live in Archway Apartments, just down the street."

"Okay, sure," Rachel nodded her head. "The one with the different color doors?"

"That's the one."

"I'll knock later so we can walk down to the cafe together. Which color door is yours?"

"Yellow."


End file.
